Aya Awakenings: A Shamanic Odyssey

Experiential journalist Rak Razam sets out to document the thriving business of 21st-century hallucinogenic shamanism starting with a trip to the annual Amazonian Shaman Conference in Iquitos, Peru, where he meets a motley crew of "spiritual tourists," rogue scientists, black magicians, and indigenous and Western healers and guides, all in town to partake of the ritual—and the medicine—of ayahuasca, "the vine of souls." Combining his personal story with the history of Amazonian shamanism, R...